The Legend of Zelda: A New Era
by B1NARD1
Summary: The words spoken long ago continue to reign true. "An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!" In modern times, Hyrule is still under terror from the evil king of darkness. Old legends cannot stack up to modern technology. But you can always teach an old dog new tricks.


**A/N Still three stories. Still one crazy mother trucker. Now then, just to clear up some fog, this is NOT an AU story. It follows the Zelda timeline and lore, the child timeline to be specific, meaning the events of SS, OoT, MM, and TP. (And likely another game...) but it simply takes place in modern times. Now that that's done with, lets get onto my third story.**

Legend of Zelda: A New Era

**Chapter One **

**First Impressions Are Everything**

_She ran as fast as she could through the heavy rain and the deep fog, not wanting to look back at the source of the giant footsteps following her. She heard the footsteps get closer, so she pushed herself to run faster, wanting to get away. Her efforts were beginning to tire her out as she began to find herself gasping and coughing as she ran, her lungs growing tired and pained. Her legs were just as tired, becoming numb and simply listening to orders from her brain. The one simple order to run. As the seconds turned to minutes, her legs began to fail her, losing comprehension of that one order. Her body could not keep this up any longer and her legs gave out, causing her to collapse onto the wet concrete, huffing and panting, starved for oxygen. Her pursuer did not give up however, as she lay there, tired, the man chasing her walked up to her, holding a rusted knife. He cackled evilly and maniacally as he pulled his arm back, ready to strike down the girl. His hand flew forward towards the girl and the next thing she saw was black._

Zelda bolted up from her sleep, sweating profusely and breathing frantically, afraid for her life. Her hand was placed on her heart which was beating rapidly at a ridiculous rate, the rest of her body shaking. she made no sound, nor did she scream as she didn't want to wake up her fellow students in the dormitory. She turned her head towards the window and moved the curtain aside. All she saw was pitch black, with some stars illuminating the night sky. She gave a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead using the back of her hand. She rested her head back onto her light blue pillow and pulled her covers back over her shoulder, closing her eyes and letting sleep claim her again, hoping for no nightmares.

* * *

_All he could do was watch. He was unable to move, unable to help, but all he could do was watch as a girl ran through the rain, being chased by some ill-intended man holding a knife. The girl ran as fast as she could, but eventually fell down to the ground, as if her legs no longer functioned. The man brought back his hand holding the knife and swung at the girl, the knife hitting her directly in the neck._

"Zelda!" Link shouted, sitting up from his bed. He looked around and was no longer in the same scene he had just encountered in his dream, but he was in his small wooden house within Ordon Village. Link normally didn't dream, and the few instances where he would dream, they were normally short dreams about his times in Ordon, seldom nightmares. And when they were nightmares, they would be from his point of view, not watching another person. Why he had shouted out the name of the princess of Hyrule as well, he could not figure out. Contrary to the vast majority of Hyrule boys, he had no romantic nor sexual feelings for her and he had never seen her before either so he could not have had a dream of her. Link ignored the thousand questions he had and walked over to the bucket of water he had placed near his "kitchen," so to speak, and splashed water on his face. He was glad that he lived alone, or else he would have to answer several questions to his roommate that he didn't have the answer to. He wiped the water from his face using a small cloth and climbed back into his bed, closing his eyes.

Sleep came with ease, as he entered another dreamless rest. He woke up to sunlight, slightly tired as a result of waking up in the middle of the night. Today was Monday, meaning that Link had to attend to his job at the local Ordon ranch soon. Generally, he would have to be at the ranch by dawn but due to how long he worked at the ranch, his employer, Fado was generous about giving Link extra time in the morning. Link took his clothes for working at the ranch and left his house, wearing nothing but regular pants. He walked over into the woods, heading towards the spring to bathe before he went to his typical work. He removed his pants and sat down in the water, soaking there for a moment. After a few minutes, he began sloshing around the water while thinking again about the instance last night. It confused him greatly, but he could think of no logical answer to the situation. He sighed in frustration and emerged from the water, drying himself off with a towel he had brought with him. He put on his ranch clothes and walked towards his destination.

* * *

Zelda awoke from her peaceful sleep, having scattered dreams throughout the night, none of them particularly bad dreams, some of them being downright silly. Breakfast had already begun and her first class would begin in around half an hour, leaving Zelda little time to get ready. She immediately ran the dormitory showers with her towel. As she stood under the shower-head, letting the warm droplets of water fall onto her body, she thought of her dream last night that scared her so much. She never managed to see who her pursuer was through the rain and the confusion of the dream, causing her to assume it was a faceless person that so many dreams contain. She shook the thoughts from her head and grabbed a bar of soap, cleaning herself. after her ten minute shower, she dried herself off and walked back to her dorm room, leaving her only 20 minutes to prepare for class. She took the first clothes that she saw which were a white and pink dress, having a strap around her waist. The dress was not very formal, however and was common schoolwear for her. She quickly brushed her golden blonde hair straight and neat, not bothering with any form of jewelry nor makeup. _And who says girls take long to get ready? _Zelda thought jokingly as she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look as elegant as she normally would, but she still looked presentable and orderly. She smiled happily in the mirror and took her brown bag, along with her books and key, leaving her room as well as locking the door before she headed to the cafeteria, hoping to at least grab a cereal bar before her first class of the day.

She jogged to the cafeteria, ignoring the curious looks from several girls and the typical perverted looks from the boys. She managed to make it inside the cafeteria and walked up to a vending machine. She inserted a dollar and selected a granola bar. The machine brought down the bar without any trouble and Zelda picked it up and took her change. She only had three minutes left until her class started. Luckily, her classroom wasn't far from the cafeteria. She put the granola bar in her bag and ran off to her class, managing to make it there with a few seconds to spare. Several students were there already, some of them looking at her as she entered. Her first class was Hylian History, as Zelda was attempting for a major in history and mythology. Her teacher, professor Gaepora entered the room and the class quieted down, students taking their seats.

Professor Gaepora was a slightly large man both in height and in width, but he was also brilliant. He knew many things about Hyrule's History, sometimes his vast knowledge making it seem like he was actually there at the time of the events. He was also a rather kind teacher, being generous when it came to work.

"Alright then, everyone. Today, I'm not going to give a lecture." Gaepora announced as he stood next to his podium. the class began to murmur amongst themselves, clearly happy with the announcement. "Instead, just bookwork today." He added shortly after. The murmurs turned into groans as the class pulled out their Hyrule Historia textbooks.

* * *

Link entered the ranch to see his boss, Fado, riding around on a tractor. Link raised an eyebrow at the sight and walked further. "Fado, no offense but are ya sure that Ordon can trust you with that thing?" Link joked. His boss was a silly man, constantly losing control of the goats and falling off horses. He was a good-hearted man, though. He was kind enough to pay Link everyday for work ever since he was orphaned.

"Naw, but they're gonna hafta." Fado said in his country accent. Link had one as well, but it wasn't as noticeable as most Ordonians. Infact, Link was more like a Hylian, both in his look and demeanor. Unlike the people of Ordon, Link had pointed ears like a Hylian. "You're makin' a delivery to Hyrule today, Link." Fado explained, hopping off of the tractor.

"That's nice, but uh... ya forgot to park the tractor." Link pointed out with a smirk. Fado looked back and saw the tractor was no longer there and chased after it before it could crash into the barn. Link chuckled at his silliness and walked over to him after he had successfully stopped the tractor. "So, what's all this about a delivery?" Link asked.

"Right, well. Ya know that place up in Castle Town where them kids like to eat?" Fado inquired, stepping out of the tractor.

"Ya mean Telma's?" Link asked.

"Not the bar. The place across from that." Fado said. "The one that just opened a few months ago."

"Ah, I know where ya mean."

"Yea, well they ordered a shipment of some cheese so you're gon' head over there with it." Fado said, walking over to the barn as he spoke and pulling out two cylindrical packs, likely holding the cheese wheels. "I ain't got a car for ya so ya gotta take Epona." Fado added. "The trip should take ya most of the day, that is if you're fast." Castle Town was by no means close to Ordon. It was even in a different province, Ordon residing in the Faron province and Castle Town being in the Lanayru province.

"Alright, I'll get goin' now." Link said. He took the packs from Fado and strapped them to Epona's saddle. He hopped on Epona and saluted to Fado with two fingers before turning Epona around and spurring her into a slow run.

Link made it out of the village through the gate in the woods past Ordon spring. He and Epona got out to the still natural part of Hyrule Field, which was now renamed Hyrule Highway with the addition of the roads several years ago. There was still natural grass next to the roads, though so Link could ride Epona through with ease. He noticed a few cars speeding by looking at him, some of them with expressionless faces, some of them laughing. He didn't care about any of them, however. Castle Town would be another five hours, and that's if he didn't stop to give Epona a rest or to eat his lunch. By car, it would only take two and a half hours, but Link valued the chance to ride to Hyrule on a horse. It gave him the ability to take in the sights of nature. As Epona galloped on, Link patted the side of her neck and began looking around at the large field that wasn't touched by the road yet.

* * *

**One Hour Later**

Zelda's first class was done for the day, being a rather boring one as the class did nothing but bookwork and occasionally listened to Gaepora talk about certain parts of history relating to their work. Due to Zelda's incredible performance during high school, she didn't have a class after History, but she did have one for the third class period. She did have friends at this university, but they all had a class for their second period except for one of them. Zelda made her way to her dorm room, nibbling on her granola bar that she didn't have time to eat during class. She received a few passing greetings from students walking to their classes. Being the princess of Hyrule, Zelda did get quite a bit of popularity. She could have picked a royal school to attend, or at least one that was more prestigious. But for reasons that no one could understand, Zelda chose to attend Hyrule University. It wasn't a particularly expensive school, but it certainly wasn't cheap. Zelda made it back to her dormitory room and pulled out her key from a pouch on her bag. She unlocked her door and walked into her room, closing the door behind her. She tossed the wrapper of her now eaten granola bar into a trash bin and lied down onto her bed.

She lied there and pulled out a notebook and a pencil from her bag next to her. She flipped to a clean page and began drawing. Her drawing was a simple one, being the legendary Triforce. Once she was done with that, she began drawing the crests of the goddesses with each corresponding Triforce piece. Din's symbol at the top for power, Nayru's symbol at the bottom left for widsom, and Farore's symbol at the bottom right for courage. The Triforce was one of the things that Zelda was well-informed of as she studied frequently about it. After several minutes, she heard a knock on her door. She smiled and got up from her bed, knowing who her visitor was. She opened the door and her blue-haired friend stood there, wearing her usual dress and necklace.

"Hey Zel." The girl said happily, entering the room.

"Hey, Nayru." Zelda returned the greeting, closing the door after her friend entered. Nayru was named after the goddess Nayru by her parents, and the name fit her perfectly. Nayru was remarkably smart as well as very kind and respectful. Nayru had a younger sister by the name of Farore and a best friend by the name of Din. People liked to refer to them as the golden goddess, if they were to be seen all together. This was a rare occurrence, however, since Farore was still a third-year high-schooler.

"Hey, no offense Zel, but you look a bit different than usual today." Nayru said, pointing out Zelda's rushed appearance today and her lack of makeup or jewelry. "I didn't see you at breakfast either, are you sick?"

Zelda sighed and fell back onto her bed. "No, I was just in a bit of a rush this morning."

Nayru raised an eyebrow. "Why? You're always up early."

"I just had a rough night." Zelda said, turning her head towards her friend who was sitting in a chair at Zelda's desk. "I had this really weird nightmare."

"What happened in it?" Nayru asked, leaning forward to listen to Zelda. Zelda explained the details of the dream to Nayru as she just sat and listened intently, occasionally nodding. Zelda explained how real the dream felt and the setting she was in. She also explained how the man chasing her laughed, yet she couldn't identify his face. "Wow." Nayru said as Zelda was finished. "Well, I'm sure that it was just a random nightmare. And if it bothers you any more, I'm here to talk." Nayru offered.

"Thanks." Zelda said, smiling at her friend. "By the way, did you hear that Piper's is finally getting a shipment of Ordon cheese?"

"Really?" Nayru beamed "It's about time. I can't wait to try some of their cheesecake again."

"We can always go this afternoon after our classes." Zelda suggested, sitting up on her bed now.

"Sure!" Nayru agreed happily.

For the next half hour, the two gossiped and talked about several different topics, occasionally talking about Zelda's nightmare, but never in great detail. They had an another half hour until their next class started, yet they ran out of things to talk about. After a minute or two of an awkward silence, Nayru found a topic to speak about.

"By the way, how's your father doing?" She asked.

"Oh, he's fine. Still a little worried about me being away from home. Especially since I'm the princess of Hyrule." Zelda responded, scoffing slightly as she talked about her father's worry.

"Why would you want to go to a regular college when you could go to a royal school anyways?" Nayru said. She noticed Zelda raising an eyebrow and immediately realized what she had said. "I mean, I'm glad you go to this school! I'm happy that you're my friend here!" Nayru blurted out, trying to correct herself as her face turned pink.

Zelda couldn't hope but chuckle at her friend's kind nature. "It's okay, Nayru. I know what you meant. And all of the other students at those royal schools are all snobby and stuck-up."

"Right." Nayru said, laughing nervously as she scratched the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Although, he wouldn't agree to let me have a roommate because he's afraid they might try to assassinate me." Zelda went on, putting air quotes around "assassinate."

"You can't blame him for worrying about you." Nayru said. "He just wants you to be safe."

"You're right." Zelda said with a sigh.

Nayru looked at Zelda and slightly frowned. "Why don't we talk about something else?" Nayru suggested, trying to cheer her friend up.

For the remaining time until their next class was about to start, the girls spoke about whatever topics they could find left. An awkward silence was left through the room occasionally until the time came for the two to head to their classes. They both got up from their resting spots and parted ways to go to their class, Zelda locking her dorm room again. Her next class was Hylian Mythology, being taught by professor Horwell. Horwell supposedly grew up in the same town as Gaepora, that being said, they're fairly close friends. As the princess went to her class, a certain Hylian was on his way to a destination of his own.

* * *

Link and Epona had been riding for around two hours now and Epona had began to get tired, so Link stopped her near a small lake in Hyrule Field. He hopped off her and allowed her to drink. "Take a rest, girl." Link said to his horse, patting her side. He walked over to a tree and stood under the shade with his arms crossed. He looked up as a golden-coloured dragonfly flew over him. He smiled and leaned against the tree, closing his eyes. He rested for around 10 minutes before he was roused by Epona, who was nudging him in the shoulder with her nose. Link opened his eyes and looked at the chestnut mare. "Well, aren't you eager today." Link said, hopping back on Epona. he spurred her into a run again as they went down Hyrule Field, with still another three hours to go until they would reach Hyrule Castle Town.

Along their path, they encountered a few docile monsters that simply ran away from Epona. Some of them having the courage to challenge her, but none of them could keep up with the swift horse. Link saw more cars pass by, but far less than two hours ago. Most people were either at school or work. After an hour and a half, Link passed by a postman running towards the Eldin Province. Why he didn't just take a car, Link had no clue. He paid attention to his destination, seeing the large town in the distance. Epona stopped once more for another drink of water, as the heat was much to bear. Link waited patiently for the steed to finish and waited for her approval to continue riding. Epona stood on her hind legs and whinnied, signaling for Link to get back on her. He did so and they reached Hyrule Castle Town finally. By this time, some kids may already be finishing school for the day as Link started his day late, at around 9:00.

Link entered the town through the side road they had for other means of transportation, such as horses and bicycles. However the latter simply used the sidewalk for that. Once he was inside the walls, he tethered Epona to a post nearby the stables that had been within the town for so long, even if it wasn't used as much anymore. Link had been here few times before, but the sight was magnificent every time he came. Several buildings stood tall, Hyrule Castle towering over everything in the background of the town square. Guards patrolled the streets, being armed with rifles. Link walked towards the marketplace, the packs of cheese in his hands. People were browsing at stalls, some of them talking with the vendors and one another. Some people looked at Link, noticing his ranch clothes that weren't as "fashionable" as the ones that they wear. There were some teenagers around the area, some of them snickering at Link. He rolled his eyes and continued towards the restaurant area of the marketplace, ignoring all looks he received.

* * *

Zelda and Nayru had finished their classes for the day and practically ran for Piper's. Nayru passed many of her friends along the way, saying hi as quick as she could trying to keep up with Zelda. Half-way to the marketplace, they found red hair in the crowd. They went closer to the source and as expected, it was their friend, Din. "Hi, Din!" Nayru said cheerfully. The red-haired girl turned around and saw both Zelda and Nayru standing there.

"Oh, hey." She responded, smiling at the two girls. "If I had to guess, I'd say you're heading to Piper's too?"

"How'd you guess?" Zelda responded.

"Everyone's going there today. I was heading there just now."

"Well let's go! I'm hungry!" Zelda exclaimed, bringing her friends with her as she went off to the marketplace.

* * *

Link found the alleyway leading to Telma's Bar and Piper's Eatery and saw several kids there, some of them going to Telma's, but most of them going towards Piper's Eatery. Link maneuvered his way through the people and made it into Piper's, going by the line of people. He heard someone shout something from the line of people.

"Hey, farm boy! You're late! We're all waiting for our food!" The boy's jeers were followed by the laughing of several boys around him and a few other people throughout the line.

Link ignored this as he did everyone else and walked up to the person behind the counter. He preferred not to talk to people unless they were a close friend of his, such as Fado, so he simply held up the two packs of cheese for the person to see.

The person noticed the Ordon signature on the two packages. "Delivery?" She asked simply, prompting Link to nod. "Just bring it over to the kitchen." She said, pointing to a door behind her. Link went through the opening connecting behind the counter to the public area and entered the kitchen. He found a table with some open space and put the two packs there. He turned to leave and heard a cook thank him. He left from behind the counter and the cashier paid him 60 rupees for the delivery. He put the rupees in his wallet and walked out of the restaurant.

The same boy from before was there, this time a little further in line. He noticed Link again and began to taunt him once more. "Hey, next time be a little earlier, will you! Maybe you should consider getting a car!"

Once again, Link ignored the comments and kept walking, until the boy added another line.

"Then again, I guess a ranch boy like you can't even afford a bike."

This comment set Link off as he hated being insulted for his being from Ordon more than anything. He stopped walking and turned his head to the side, not bothering to look directly at the boy. "Fuck off." He said, indifference shrouding the anger he held. Had Link been turned around, he might have seen the boy and his friends step out of the line. By the time he noticed, the teen had already pushed Link.

"What was that?" The boy asked, his facial expression now different from one time Link managed to get a look at him.

Link remained silent and regained his balance. When the boy tried to push him again, Link deflected his hand and returned the gesture with his own push. The skirmish was now beginning to draw a crowd as the kids in line began focusing their attention towards Link.

"Kick his ass, Dom." One of his friends said, helping the boy up.

_Dom. So that's what this asshole's name is. _Link thought, staring down the group of boys, ready for any move they were to make. The boy named Dom went first, taking a swing at Link. Link effortlessly dodged the punch, having trained for fights back in Ordon with Rusl, the father of one of his friends. Dom took another swing and this time, Link followed up his dodge with a punch to Dom's stomach. He reeled back, holding his stomach and this time ran at Link, clearly angry. Link grabbed Dom's shoulders and threw him to the side, using his momentum against him. Link practiced this with Ordon goats that decided to get angry and charge. Link turned away to start walking out of the marketplace and head back to Epona.

When he turned around, something that caught his eye was a blonde girl, standing between two other girls, one with blue hair, the other with red hair. He started at her for a few seconds, as if he knew her from somewhere and continued walking. Two guards had managed to reach where he was and they both saw Dom passed out on the ground.

"What happened here?" One of the guards asked.

Link opened his mouth to speak, but one of Dom's friends was faster. "This kid just attacked our friend!" He exclaimed, clearly lying.

Link whipped around to glare daggers at whoever said that and Dom's other friend spoke. "He's right! This guy's crazy!"

Link now wanted to knock out both of these guys right there and if it wasn't for the two guards, he likely would. "Two witnesses, son. I'm going to have to arrest you." One of the guards said, approaching Link. Running was pointless as he would eventually be caught as well as he wouldn't be able to make any more deliveries. Plus a car can likely outrun a horse. Link sighed and allowed the guard to put handcuffs on him before he heard a female voice.

"Wait! Don't arrest him!"

Link looked for the source of the voice and as he did so, he saw several people looked stunned. He finally found where the voice came from after a few seconds and it happened to be the blonde girl that Link saw just moments ago.

"Princess Zelda!" One of the guards exclaimed. "We're sorry for not noticing you immediately. Had we seen you, we would have bowed."

The blonde named Zelda smirked as everyone else was still confused. Especially Link. "It's quite fine, but you mustn't arrest this boy. He fought in self-defense, not in anger. Those two boys are lying."

Link eyes practically popped out of his head from the pure surprise he was going through. This girl was the princess of Hyrule and she was standing up for a ranch hand that she's never even met before. The thought made him feel like he was dreaming. He didn't even notice when the guards began questioning other people.

"I didn't see what happened, but I wouldn't be surprised if this kid was protecting himself." A red haired girl said, gesturing to Link. "That idiot's always getting into fights. it's about time someone knocks him out." The guard was taken aback slightly by how blunt this girl was, but he thanked her nonetheless. The other guard was questioning the blue haired girl which was far more timid in her response than the ginger standing infront of him. Nonetheless, she still confirmed what Zelda had said and the guards turned their attention to the two boys that had tried to lie earlier.

"You two. You're coming with us." One of the guards said. The boys groaned and reluctantly followed the guards, glaring at Link. The second guard picked up Dom from the ground and carried him away with his friends. Before the guard left the area, he looked back to Link. "Sorry for the misunderstanding."

Link smiled and gave his typical two finger salute. He walked up the stairs to get back to the square so he could go home with Epona. He met eyes with the blonde girl and before he left, he decided to thank her. "Thank you, miss Zelda." Link said, trying to mask his accent slightly.

"You're quite welcome. and there's no need for formalities, you can just call me Zelda." She responded, smiling at the dirty blonde. "What's your name?" She asked as everyone around her still stared in disbelief at how the princess of Hyrule was becoming friends with a farm boy.

"Link." He responded.

"Nice to meet you, Link." She said, extending her hand. "I hope we meet again."

Link nodded and shook her hand. He then walked out of the marketplace and found Epona where he had left her. She nudged his cheek with her nose, happy to see him. He freed her from the post and mounted her, riding out of Hyrule Castle Town and heading back home to Ordon with fond thoughts about Zelda's assistance and kindness towards him.

**A/N Woo, woo! This has got to be the fastest chapter I have ever written as it took me only a week to finish this chapter. I left several easter eggs in here, can anyone spot them all? Also, I apologize if Zelda and Nayru's conversation was awful, I can't do girl gossip! Dx Anyways, I hope you guys like this story so far, as I definitely do! Please review and I'll give you virtual cake! See you around!**


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